SF Skateboarding Ban?

I know there are alot of west-coasters here. Is there really a total ban on skateboarding in San Francisco?

This is somewhat of a surprise as an East Coaster, considering this sport originated and evolved on the West Cost (LA seems to have all sorts of "bans" on skateboarding as well, just not in total as SF).

It just seems ironic that I can own 2 SUVs and a Lamborghini in this city, but I can't skateboard, because some dickheads did some grinds and scuffed up a wall, etc.

Like most places with skateboarding bans, this really seems like classism more than anything else.

I didn't know this was a thing, and I'm a California resident. Most of my childhood was watching 411VM video magazines and some of the best lines are the ones carved at the EMB (Embarcadero) and piers in that area. I don't know if this is actually enforced or ignored or what, but SF has some of the best skaters in the world, and always has. I can't imagine they are all criminals in one of the best skate cities in the world.

Even if so, there are a lot of other municipalities "out in this direction".

I was really thinking about moving close to the job solely so I could skate to work and ditch the car entirely (this would really be a dream come true). I'm not opposed to cycling, but it's just not my thing.

(Fort Lauderdale is so friendly to this activity and A1A is tops for skating, but I'm 30 miles away from work.)

Well, in some places skateboarding was a real problem. Skateboarders were sometimes nuisances in parking lots and on sidewalks, sometimes crashing into people (it happened to me a couple of times). There was one incident that made the news about a decade ago, where a kid on a skateboard was killed by a car backing out of a parking lot. I think he was riding it on his back – Darwin Award, anyone? – and the lady had no way of seeing him. IIRC, that’s when bans started popping up, though I don’t know if that was the cause.

Yeah, I know why these bans exist -- but the number of skaters killed per year in any given municipality pale in comparison to auto accidents, diabetes, shootings, over doses, high cholesterol/heart disease, kitchen accidents, staph infections or hair dryers falling into bathtubs.

Sucks, and this discrepancy is why I maintain there is an element of classism involved in these "bans". Skateboarding is often viewed as a primarily "urban/teen" activity, and is viewed as a threat to middle-aged/older adults.

Of course skateboarding isn't banned, but skating on certain things are probably against the law or highly frowned upon. I've known plenty of people who skated at least partway to work. Shame on SF for that imaginary thing I think of them. How is this a debate?

Skate rats rank right below Segwayers in the heirarchy of traffic anyways.

Yeah, the laws aren't meant to protect skaters but rather pedestrians and drivers.

I don't know about all cities, but I do know it was a problem where I grew up. At least in my town, though, they made up for the ban by putting in a free skate park. This is another trend I've noticed: cities adding skate parks to public parks. It seems to work out nicely for those who do more than skate to work/school.

I'd much prefer a reckless skating citation (where someone is actually spotted being a dick, not just trying to get to school or work) than an outright ban, personally. That, and strict enforcement of property owners' restrictions.

I support any ban concerning grinding on, or vandalizing property. That's a non-starter.

I'm talking about skateboarding from point A to B, as a means of transportation. This is apparently outlawed in a heavy-handed "ban" encompassing all forms of skateboarding.

You can see I've been here awhile -- I'm past the age where I need to destroy property for kicks.

CA has the *most* strict environmental laws in the country, if not the entire world, yet I can buy a Hummer, pay my taxes, and go about my merry way as a citizen. Not so much if I'm on a skateboard, but a bicycle is 100%+ OK.

The cop in that video typifies the quintessential *sshole cop and acted in an over aggressive manor against that kid. I'll bet prior to 9/11 none of this would be an issue.

You'd lose that bet. Skaters have been "outlaw" types since pretty much the beginning (Watch Dogtown and Z Boyz sometime). Hell, even in the crappy little town I went to high school in back in the 80's, skaters were routinely harassed by police...and "Skateboarding is not a crime" stickers were everywhere.

That is--skateboarders are kind of obnoxious, particularly to pedestrians.

Pretty much this. I don't think anyone gives a shit about skateboarding as a concept; they give a shit about skateboarding when it's happening on the sidewalk you're trying to navigate, the stairs you're going down, the bench you want to sit on, etc. If skateboarding were confined exclusively to skate parks nobody would talk about it. Conversely if extreme golfing caught on and you ran across guys with pitching wedges trying to take trick shots off the statue in the town square, people would pretty quickly start passing laws regarding that, too.

That said, there's certainly a "those damn kids hanging out, listening to their hippity hoppity music" factor at work as well.

If skateboarding were confined exclusively to skate parks nobody would talk about it. If skateboarding were confined exclusively to skate parks nobody would talk about it.

CA definitely has some of the best skate parks around, and this should be commended.

This really doesn't address the legitimate transportation aspect of skating which is non-destructive and environmentally friendly.

The problem is the blanket skateboarding bans (in CA or anywhere else) which restrict skateboarding as a mode of transportation.

I'm looking @ this from the point of view of an east-coaster whos city expended $150M on improvements to their boardwalk (to include installation of a 5-mile wall along A1A that is just **begging** for grinds and skating tricks). Sometimes this happens, but it's mostly self-policed, and there has been harmony between skaters and the city since the early '90s. If I caught some punk doing tricks on the wall I would set this straight forthright, and I would image most other mature skaters would deal with this in a similar manor.

This area of A1A is placarded with signs with the slogan "City of Sports", or something similar, with a picture of a skateboarder popping an Ollie.

Sometimes a d*ckhead grinds on the wall and scuffs/chips it up. Really, that's the "cost of business". I guarantee this area is sooo much more lucrative for the city tolerating skateboarding than if an outright ban was imposed.

Who cares? It's not like us arguing about it here is likely to overturn the law. Let the local residents figure it out.

(I personally hate skateboarders, since the vast majority of them are stereotypical teenager assholes with zero concern for pedestrians or other vehicles. But my personal hatred is not a productive Soap Box topic, either.)

As a person who commuted by bike for years in SF, I have very little sympathy for skaters generally, hypocritical as that may be. The are too fast for busy sidewalks and too slow for bike lanes or city streets. That said, there is basically no factual premise to this thread. SF doesn't have a blanket ban, and poor people aren't trying to commute by freaking skating.

Skaters at night at dangerous to everyone involved, in my opinion, and are even less inclined than the subset of cyclists that are asses to light themselves up and make themselves visible.

There is a also a practical limitation to commuting long distances or in heavily congested areas by board that aren't present with even motorized scooters let alone bicycles. Never mind the hills. If you are tooling around the Mission, the you're probably fine but otherwise not actually doing a lot of practical commuting. The few folks I knew were multi-modal BART or MUNi to skating for a final or initial short leg.

That said, there is basically no factual premise to this thread. SF doesn't have a blanket ban, and poor people aren't trying to commute by freaking skating.

That's good to hear -- I hoped that would be the case.

As to the practicality of skating long distances, this is a function of your board configuration and fitness/skill level. I certainly wouldn't want to push a street board with 52m/101A wheels across town, but I'd ride a board set up with 60m+/80A several miles, all day, over a bicycle, despite the bike being much more efficient. The board is more fun.